Tennessee’s Sports Wagering Advisory Council reported more than $27.1 million in gross sports betting operator revenue for April, a slight increase from March despite a sharp, but expected, falloff in handle.
After the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament helped push handle to $370 million in March, the amount wagered across the nine digital sportsbooks in the Volunteer State dropped to $292.8 million in April. That 20.9% decline ended a six-month run of handles of at least $300 million and was the lowest in the state since September saw a then-record $257.8 million.
Operators in April, though, posted a 9.3% win rate — more than two full percentage points better than the 7.2% hold in March — to create a 2.3% revenue uptick from March’s total of $26.5 million. It was the eighth consecutive month gross revenue exceeded $20 million in Tennessee after that was achieved only once in the first 10 months after November 2020’s launch.
Running Top 10 April #SportsBetting handles by state:
1 New York: ~$1.4B
2 New Jersey: $926.9M
3 Pennsylvania: $572.8M
4 Michigan: $396M
5 Indiana: $360M
6 TENNESSEE: $292.8M <–NEW
7 Louisiana: $208.3M
8 Iowa: $177.4M
9 Connecticut $116.5M
10 West Virginia: $45.6M— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) May 24, 2022
Promotional spend slowing
Promotional credits totaled just shy of $3.9 million in April, a slight increase from the nearly $3.8 million the previous month. Still, operators have slowed the pace of promotional spend in the first part of 2022, as the $20.6 million is 31.5% less than the $30.1 million in credits distributed in the final four months of last year.
Adjusted revenue after promotional credits totaled $23.2 million, which was 2.2% higher than March’s figure of $22.8 million. The state claimed more than $4.6 million in tax receipts for April and has surpassed $18 million in tax revenue through the first four months of the year. That total is more than $5.1 million better than the $12.9 million collected in the same period in 2021.
For year-over-year comparisons, Tennessee’s handle of nearly $1.4 billion so far in 2022 is 77.9% higher than the $766 million from the first four months of 2021, while gross revenue has increased 64.7% to $110.9 million. Adjusted revenue has improved 40.2% to $90.2 million despite a nearly two-point drop in hold to 6.6%.
The Sports Wagering Advisory Council does not disclose monthly handle and revenue figures by either operator or sport.
